Post Tagged with: "Ben Williams"

The international element is strong on ‘Spirit’ like a lot of jazz albums these days but Zem Audu is long beyond that concept of throwing together different ingredients and has mastered making his stew simmer with sophistication.

The story continues. Yesterday saxophonist Marcus Strickland’s new, double-disc record Triumph Of The Heavy, Volumes 1 & 2 went on sale, and the narrative of this record begins where the story of his prior one, Idiosyncrasies (2009), left off.

by S. Victor Aaron He looks like a young Keith Jarrett, even hums along to his piano lines a little like Jarrett, but Jacky Terrasson is defying straight comparisons to anybody. This 1993 winner of the Thelonious Monk competition can conjure the big, train-like sound of McCoy Tyner, the cerebral presence of Brad Mehldau or the spiritual elegance of AbdullahRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Another record by a jazz drummer? Heck yeah! Ulysses Owens, Jr. isn’t just a young up-and-comer percussion specialist with a radiant smile. Behind the cheerful expression is a serious commitment to his craft. A graduate of the world renowned Julliard School, Owens has been touring with Christian McBride and recent Grammy winner Kurt Elling. Before that,Read More

photo: Mamoru Kobayakawa by S. Victor Aaron Here at Something Else we take a shining to rising young talent who puts a modern, interesting twist on jazz while honoring its tradition of deep harmony, creative improvisation and unselfish group symbiosis. That’s what I liked about E.J. Strickland’s debut album In This Day, which came out this past spring. I didn’tRead More

photo: Nitin Vadukal by S. Victor Aaron Yesterday marked the release of Stefon Harris’ seventh album, the urban-minded Urbanus. As this is the second album with his hip-hop/r&b/jazz vehicle Blackout, Urbanus marks the true follow-up to 2004’s Evolution (African Tarantula from 2006 was a delightful little excursion into Duke Ellington). Harris, in case you don’t know already, is the premierRead More